More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message!Don't you dare give up! In James 5:7-11, that's James message to those who are scattered. Don't give up. When you're at the depths of down, don't give up. When hard times outnumber the good times, don't give up. A turn of the page is ahead and the best is yet to come. So how do I keep going in hard times. James gives us some finishing well tips in this episode. And really thats James challenge. Finish well. Don't flame out. Don't quit. End your life more in love with Jesus than you started. Pursue God. Set your hope, embrace your purpose, strengthenyour heart, find mentors, follow examples. But no matter what, don't you dare give up!

Send me a Text Message!Have you ever noticed that when people look back on their lives and you ask them what helped you to grow spiritually; where were those points in your life when God showed up in deep ways and shaped your heart to be more like Jesus?  When did you develop that deep unshakeable hope that you have that no matter what  happens, the best is yet to come?Have you ever noticed how often their answer describes a hard-time, a wilderness journey, a pause in the pit, a season of suffering, a crucible experience? It's almost enough to make me pray, God put me in the fire, send me on a wilderness journey. I need some heart chiseling. If that's you, let me encourage you with these words, "You might well be on the hard road to amazing joy."

Send me a Text Message!If there is a museum in heaven, if there are collections of priceless antiques in heaven, the highlighted pieces that will be viewed with the greatest honor will not be those containing the artifacts of times when the Christian faith brushed up against fame, power and success. I think it will be a collection of ordinary stuff representing some of the most amazing moments that most of the world never knew took place: a cup of cold water given to a refugee; a meal cooked for a sick neighbor; a handwritten note given to a struggling friend; the first check a family wrote to sponsor an orphan in Myanmar...and a widow's mite.  And do you know what that means? That means there's a place for you...in the Generosity Hall of Fame!

Send me a Text Message!James has some pretty tough, maybe even harsh words for rich people in James 5:1-6. But let's be honest, most of us aren't rich. Or are we? Before (or after, either is ok) you listen to this episode, go to the website, “givingwhatwecan.org." There's a lot of good and interesting information on the whole site, about the good we can do if we are generous. But for now just scroll down about halfway until you get to the little box labelled “How Rich Am I?” I'll warn you this is how rich am I compared to the rest of the world; not compared to my neighbors, not compared to the richest people in the US, but compared to the world. Compared to my friends in Myanmar; compared to the folks who live at your local "out of the cold" shelter are you on the global rich list?  

Send me a Text Message!Yep, you're right. It's not even the book of James. But I felt like the message this weekend that I gave on Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego meeting God in the fire, was worth giving to more people. So rather than moving onto James 5, this one is going all the way back to the Old Testament book of Daniel. It's the message I gave this weekend. If you listened to it all ready last weekend, maybe God wants you to ponder it one more time. :)Sometimes God saves us from the fire, sometimes He meets us in the fire. But we never go through the fire alone!

Send me a Text Message!Most of us think of sin as the bad things we do, but it's also the good we fail to do. If you read this before you listen, we're focusing on James 4:17, but I'm going to take us in a little bit different direction. So before you listen, grab a rag, any kind of rag, just grab a rag. If you can't, then just imagine you have a rag in your hand.I want us to practice saying this, "We all have rags." Go ahead, say it now. "We all have rags.  If you think about it, rags hold an interesting place in our lives...on the one hand they epitomize a lifestyle we seek to escape. We want to move from rags to riches. On the other hand, you may have grown up with a rag or two that at some point became very precious to you. What's that got to do with the good we fail to do?Well if you listen, you'll figure that out, beause we all got rags. 

Send me a Text Message!Here at the end of James 4, to some degree James is echoing the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-34 and from all those words, the statement that stirs up my heart is this, "For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also."  For where your treasure is, your heart will follow. Isn't that James concern as well? You are doing all this planning, trying to control all these variables, why? To gain treasure. But the problem with our treasures is that our treasures determine the placement of our hearts. So here's my question, "Where is your heart?"

Send me a Text Message!Remember from the last episode; there is a difference between making a judgment and passing judgment. We make judgments every day. Live is filled with judgements. If you live in my community and you want ice cream, it's Dairy Queen, Myer's Dairy or the Creamery. Gotta Make a judgment. Some of you are thinking, Do not judge...eat-em all!"Every day we make judgments, it's part of life. Some of those judgments are moral judgments. But there's a difference between making a judgment and passing judgment. Passing judgment means you look beyond what a person says or does into their very heart as though you know them intimately and can judge them absolutely. But when we judge, we seperate, we isolate, and we lose our empathy. But Jesus says, "Not in my Kingdom!" 

Send me a Text Message!In many ways, James 4:11-12 and Jesus words in Matthew 7, about judging others are words that are so deeply needed today. In the Greek language the word used for judge, has within it the idea of seperation. When we sit in judgement of someone we seperate ourselves from them, and seperate them from our community. They become our untouchables. Does that sound familiar? Does it sound like something that might be happening in our communities right now?Who are your untouchables?

Send me a Text Message!Remember James -- old camel knees -- so committed to prayer that he developed camel callouses on his knees.  His whole book is saturated with prayer, but here in chapter 4, he lets loose with some of the most important prayer-principles in the New Testament, specifically 3 rules of a great prayer life. In the last episode we focused on the first rule of prayer. You have to ask. In this episode it's, "Love God" and "Battle for Grace." 3 Rules of a great prayer life!

Send me a Text Message!For those of you getting tired of the first half of James 4, we're getting close to moving on. But here's what I've found throughout my time in the Word, sometimes we move on to new words too quick. Sometimes we need to let the Words of God soak, saturate and marinate. Sometimes we need to hold them up in the sonlight and look at them from a variety of perspectives like a diamond or a sculpture. Sometimes it takes more than one reading to glean all that we should glean on the first pass. And James 4 is one of those sometimes passages.In this episode, we'll ponder James diagnostic question for an un-praying life. "You have not because you ask not." What is it that sometimes makes the prayer life so difficulty? I'll give you some diagnostic questions to dig into that personally.

Send me a Text Message!The last two episodes focused on James 4 have been challenge heavy. This one is encouragement heavy. Here is the simply message from God, that I think God wants you to hear. "I miss you." Do you believe God misses you? I think we have this idea that God is love so God has to love us. But I'm not sure he likes me. Miss me? Nah, with so many people in the world who love him deeper and follow him better than I do, He probably doesn't even notice my absence. But the capacity of his heart is off the charts and there's just something about love that desires to be with...So what if God misses you?

Send me a Text Message!When I think of the state of the church of America, actually let me personalize it, when I think of the state of my own heart. Here is the thought that comes to mind. "It's worse than we think and it could be better than we can imagine." Some of you may not be ready to hear me say this, because it requires a softness of heart, an inclination of our souls to God. It requires a posture of surrender and brokenness and humility. It requires a choice to chase Christ with all our hearts. But if we are willing to do that...what is worse than we think can become better than we ever imagined. 

Send me a Text Message!Sometimes I look around me at the beauty of creation, family and friends around me, good things happening in people lives, and answers to prayer. In moments like that, do you know what's hard to believe? It's really hard to believe that we are living in a war zone. Every night before I go to bed, I google the war-news about Myanmar and the Ukraine. I don't have to imagine their war zone. But sitting in my office, it's hard to believe I'm in a battle. But that's the message of scripture. It's not a battle against people, that I'm talking about. It's a different kind of war. And sometimes the reason why our prayer life is anemic and our lifes are not thriving, is because we are fighting the wrong battle. What is your battle?

Send me a Text Message!In Luke 8, Jesus tells a story that in many ways sums up James 3. He shares a parable about seeds and soils and a 100 fold return in the harvest. But really it's all about words, and hearts, and a great return on investment in the lives of peole. It's about having the kind of heart that overflows with life on the people around us. So I can't help but ask the question, what is the texture of a good heart? That's wht this episode is all about.

Send me a Text Message!What if I told you, that I am a stock guru? And if you will invest $100 using my method you will gain $10,000 by year end, a 100 fold increase.  What would you say? The promise of a 100 fold return on investment seems almost too good to be true.  But if it's true -- it's good.  Isn't it? Apply that to any area of your life, education, exercise, a 100x return on investment sounds too good to be true. But if's true, it would be good, right?In this episode we are looking at a story that Jesus told about 100x gains on investment. An investment of His Word into your heart; are you looking for a 100x return? 

Send me a Text Message!It's something we desperately need today, a wisdom that comes from above. We are living in a time when much of our culture is living by a wisdom that comes from below, filled with a me-first selfish-ambition. But a wisdom that comes from above is peace-loving and willing to yield. It's graciously humble and generously compassionate. It's a wisdom that is from above and we desperately need it today!

Send me a Text Message!If I declare to you, "We need a radical heart-revolution!" what would you think I mean? I have a sneaky suspicion that James would say that it's all about humility. We need a radical heart-revolution that takes us out of the center of the world, even out of the center of our own world. One of the key characteristics of God's way--is described by James as "Doing good works with humility."  This humility thing is so illusive.  What does humility look like?  We've talked about this before, even recently, but I got to believe it's good for us, or at least good for me to hear it again. James says that we can't hear God, we can't follow God and we can't find life, without humility.  So what we need is a radical heart-revolution.

Send me a Text Message!When I was a kid, my mom would often challenge me with this phrase, "Garbage in, garbage out." GIGO. It was her way of saying, you can't control your tongue, but you can control what's at the source. Sooner or later what's at the source, what's in your heart and mind is going to come out of your mouth. And how do we clean up the source? We let God's Words saturate our souls, our hearts and our minds? We let God's Words into our hearts, before our words go out our lips. So what's at the source of what comes out of your mouth?

Send me a Text Message!There is power in words. We know it because we've been on the receiving side of words that encouraged and words that destroyed. There are times when you've been so impacted by words, that in your heart of hearts you know what Solomon meant when he wrote in Proverbs 15:4, "The tongue the brings healing is a tree of life, but a lie  crushes the spirit." Words can hurt. Words can give life. Words can seem to be heaven-sent and words can burn like hell.And sometimes, we just need a button for our mouths!  :)

Send me a Text Message!We are back to the book of James. In this episode we will review James 1-2 a bit, and then in the next episode we dive into chapter 3. You know in reality the book of James is all about wisdom, practical wisdom, not just philosophical wisdom, but how to live life right. Wisdom that works.  James says a lot about prayer, but he also says a lot about the Word. No spiritual practices are more important than the Word and prayer. It's that breathing in and breathing out. We listen to the Word and learn from the Word, but if our listening and learning doesn't end with leaning...leaning into the Word, the Word won't work. Wisdom begins in knowing, but if it doesn't end in doing, it doesn't work.  So not long from now, we'll hear James say in 3:13, "If you are wise and understand God's ways,  prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom."Prove it.  It's not enuf to say that you are wise.  Prove it by how you live. God's wisdom has a certain look to it. So prove it.  

Send me a Text Message!This is my last Psalm Pause. I know, if you read the notes, I said that about the last one, but catch-up from vacation is...well...full. The next episode gets us back to the book of James and a life of prayer. I've been taking a bit of a break after 100 downloads and during my vacation. I've been reposting some Psalms that specifically hit some themes from our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving.  In Psalm 51, David wants more than forgiveness.  Way more.  I hope you do too.  The grace of God is not just a forgiving  grace.  The grace of God is a healing grace.  The grace  of God is a joy-restoring grace.  The grace of God is a renewing, sustaining, strengthening grace.  The grace of God brings an unstoppable tsunami of transformation.  And it's available for you!

Send me a Text Message!I've been taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving. This is the last Psalms Pause...next episode is James 3.As I look around us, as I look among us, and as I look within me, I would say that a sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. We would prefer to highlight other issues. At least in part because when we talk about sin, sooner or later it's going to come back to me. Because here is what I know, my sin-soaked heart is my greatest problem. My own heart is the dominant problem of my life. My heart is my problem. But Psalm 51 gives me hope that God has a solution for my problem!

Send me a Text Message!I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving. If you are anything like me, reading the book of James brings some stuff to the surface of my heart that brings conviction of my mess. Psalm 51 takes us into the heart of a deeply personal prayer of confession and repentance. It's a prayer prayed by David when he was caught in sin. David's heart was pierced with conviction and burdened by guilt and Psalm 51 is a heartfelt response to  that sin. It's a raw and vulnerable cry for mercy. David doesn't justify or minimize what he did, he simply lays his soul bare before God. 

Send me a Text Message!I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving. So we are looking again at Psalm 37; too much for one episode and a great principle from James that we see here as well. God wants to give us the land...but the land is for the meek. Meek? Do you remember that word? Receive the implanted word with meekness! Anyone looking for a little more meekness in their life? Meek isn't weak, it's strength under control. Let's go for meek!

Send me a Text Message!I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving. Psalm contains one of my favorite verses. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." There are so many good things in Psalm 37, but in this episode, we're going to focus on a few practical experiments that could help us "delight in God." Perhaps that's the essence of a life of prayer?

Send me a Text Message!I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving. One thing I love about the writers of the psalms is that they bring their real self to the game. They don't try to hide the pain or the doubt. They don't sanitize the language. They bring their real self. Psalm 5 is a prayer of lament. It's a good Psalm for times when we are scattered and trying to "consider it joy" when the hard stuff comes. 

Send me a Text Message!I'm taking a bit of a break as a reward for 100k downloads and as a pause during my vacation. But during this week+ break, I'm reposting some Psalms that I've chosen, specifically to hit some themes of our current series, "A Life of Prayer." The themes include scripture, prayer, trusting God, and thriving. In Psalm 1 word that I cannot escape in Psalm 1 is the word "blessing." Psalm 1 is a description of the blessed life, the way of blessing, like a tree planted by the streams, roots deep, full of fruit, thriving. We'll take some time in this episode and ponder the path of blessing as it's described in Psalm 1!

Send me a Text Message!Over and over again in the last part of James 2, we hear something like, "faith without works is dead." Faith that does not lead to action is useless. Faith is as faith does and if it doesn't, it probably isn't. I think what James is trying to say is that we can trust God, the real question is "Can He trust us." The question that we so frequently ask God, perhaps He is asking us, "Can I trust you?"James 2:14-26 gives us both a diagnostic for the condition of our faith and a few CPR practices to revive it! So, how about a little CPR for your faith?

Send me a Text Message!"Love your neighbor like you love yourself." Paul, James and Jesus all echo that challenge, that way of life. "Let the way that you love yourself set the standard for the way that you love your neighbor." In other words, ask yourself, What if my neighbor was me? How would I treat me? If I could wrap my neighbor in my skin and he was me, how much wld I love me? So that all the happiness that I seek for myself I would seek for my neighbor. What I seek for my kids, I would seek for your kids. The patience I have with my own mistakes would be extended to you. The mercy I desire for myself, I would give to my neighbor, because mercy beats judgement every day! 

Send me a Text Message!Did you know that there's a royal law in the Bible? James calls it the royal law of love. Love your neighbor as you love yourself; the royal law. The Bible makes it incredibly clear that nothing matters more than relationships--nothing--first with God and second with people. In fact that very royal love, "Love your neighbor as yourself" is so stuck in the heart of God that it gets repeated in the Bible not once, but nine different times. In fact, the Bible seems to suggest that if I am a success in every other area of life except relationships, I am a failure. The higher calling of God always starts with the heart. Time and again in the Bible we see that before God releases a dream, He always shapes a heart. Do you want a love that soars? That's what He's dreaming of for you.

Send me a Text Message!I can't get away from James' words, "God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith." It reminds me of Jesus' words in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit." Blessed are the broken, the desperate. Blessed are those standing without pretense before God, stripped of all self-sufficiency, self-security, and self-righteousness. That's not easy for us to hear. Can I be honest? Growing up my  heroes were not the poor and desperate. It wouldn't be far from true to say that I've spend the better part of my life running from brokenness, not chasing poverty.God has chosen the poor...and I just have to ask, "What's so good about being poor?"  

Send me a Text Message!Remember elementary school and choosing teams? Does this still happen today? What a nerve wracking deal. This week the NBA draft has been occuring. Teams spend millions of dollars to get the right person. And if you are chosen, what does that mean? It means you matter; you have value; want you on our team. You don't have to be in the NBA or elementary school.  Life's ups and downs can still be mapped by those moments of choosing.  Did you get chosen for the job or for the school?  Did they choose your grant proposal?  Did she say yes to your invitation?  Isn't every wedding day all about being chosen? A ring says I choose you.  I love you above all others.  I want to live with you for the rest of my life.  I choose.So I've been pondering these words from James chapter 2, "Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world?" And it makes me wonder, "Would God choose me for His team?"

Send me a Text Message!I love the way James hooks me with his statements. I don't know if he has such a way with words or if it's just the Spirit of God planting the seed in my soul. But from "Consider it pure joy with troubles come your way" to "Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger" to "God has chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith" and know it's his definition of real religion. Real religion is caring for orphans and widows in trouble and keeping yourself uncorrupted  Caring for orphans and widows...and refusing to be corrupted by the world.  In our culture, those two challenges go hand in hand. Real religion is more than sitting in a church building, listening to the people sing or a pastor preach. It's making a difference in the lives of people in need. Are you looking for some real religion?

Send me a Text Message!In the last episode I said that James is really describing a life of trust in his letter to those who are scattered. A life of trust listens to, learns from and leans into the word of God, and a life trust not only breathes in those words, but also breathes out in prayer. So where is God asking you to respond, to trust him today? Over thecourse of the centuries you can hear this man James saying; "It will be worth it if you get to the point where you can hear God's voice and trust God's Word.  Hear and Do. Listen, learn and lean.We keep asking if we trust God, but maybe He's asking, "Can I trust you?"

Send me a Text Message!My goal through this podcast and my prayer for all of us is that we would be drawn to the Words of God, that we would develop a hunger to hang out with Jesus and listen to the whisper of His spirit through our hearts and out our ears.  My goal is that we would go to this book (the Bible) again and again in search of gold.  That our incentive would be the precious treasure of God-birthed healing in our hearts, inspiring our minds, and renewing our spirits. But my concern is that sometimes we treat the Words of God like a common worthless penny. We'll take it if somebody gives it to us, but don't expect me to dig for it. But what if one of God's greatest gifts are the Words He speaks?

Send me a Text Message!Sometimes we get scattered and distracted, we walk through difficult paths in life, in part, because we didn't have a good guide to life. Or maybe you had no guide; no one to show you the sights in the daylight; how to journey to all the good parts and through the hard parts. But here's what I think James might say to us today, “You have a Father, a Father in heaven who knows the way to a life that thrives, even in the scattered times. Follow him. So the question for this episode in a life of prayer is simply, "Do you know your Dad?" I'm talking now about your heavenly Dad. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray he said, "Ok, when you pray...say Father."  

Send me a Text Message!One of the questions that comes up frequently in regards to prayer is simply, "Does prayer matter?" I often receive some version of that question in relationship to unanswered prayer. Every death, every war, every cancer, every season of depression, every divorce stands as a monument to unanswered prayer. And so we hear the question in our hearts, "Does prayer matter?" I believe with all my heart that prayer is at the heart of our relationship with God and asking is at the heart of our prayers. But the bottom line is that few things motivate me to pray like answers to prayer.So here's the question for this episode, "Are there any prayers that God always answers?"

Send me a Text Message!In this episode, we will ponder for a few moments how our lives can make an impact and leave a legacy. An impact is what we make while we're still living. A legacy is what that impact leaves behind when we are gone. Remember Hebrews 12:4, we read that one a few times in this series, it says, "Let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” In other words, you have a particular race, a way that God is shaping you to make an impact and leave a legacy. But there are some common principles for running that race to make an impact and leave a legacy. So we are going to look at Jesus' unique race to help us learn how to make an impact and leave a legacy...and what that has to do with a life of prayer.

Send me a Text Message!James says that you are a kind of first-fruits of God's creative work. His work in you, in the midst of the trouble, His work in you is a first-fruit of His creative work. Think about that for a moment. You are a first-fruit. You're not a remnant; you're His firstfruits. What do I mean by that? Sometimes in scattering times. When  persecution comes and following Jesus is hard, we start thinking I'm all that's left. All that's left is a remnant. It's a mindset that says, I have to hang on to what I got with all I got. Because I'm all that's left. But listen, you're not all that's left, you are the first of what's to come. You're not the ending, you're the beginning. What God is doing in you, He going to multiply through you.And what He's doing in you is writing a story of overflowing joy!

Send me a Text Message!We will miss the thriving life God has for us if we believe that the best way to find life is to avoid suffering at all costs. Isn't that James message in the first words of his letter to the scattered? See I wonder, if the question that people in  James' day were wrestling with was the same question we ask in hard times? Is God  good? Can I trust Him? If I say yes to God, is He going to mess up my life or give me life? And then we hear James says, “Count it pure joy when you run into trials and troubles." Welcome problems like a friend. Why in the world would we do this?  We would only do it if indeed hard times bring the good life.

Send me a Text Message!The bible talks so much about joy. It's all over Jesus' words just before the cross, in John 14-17. He talks about bringing joy as part of his overall purpose. Paul talks a lot about joy. And James leads with it in his letter to those who are scattered. It's almost like, joy is at the heart of God's plan for his people, his family. When James writes, "consider it pure joy when you face trials," it's almost like joy is in the non-optional category. It's almost like joy is a command. And if joy is a command, do you know what that means? It means joy must be a choice.Does it bother you a bit, when I say, "we can choose joy?" Regardless of our circumstances, our setting, our hard times, can I choose joy? 

Send me a Text Message!If I told you there was a way to experience pure joy, 100% pure joy, would you believe me? Would you ask me to show you the way? In 35 years of ministry, one of the most significant convictions, I've gained is that we have a deep, deep need forpure joy. The corollary conviction I've developed is that there is very little relationship between the circumstances of our lives and the joy of our souls. Avoiding suffering at all costs does not bring pure joy. Getting everything I want, when I want it does not create great overflowing resevoirs of joy. Comfort and control are not the source of glorious joy.So how do we find pure joy? That's what this episode starts discussing.

Send me a Text Message!I will explain in the next episode, but #10 and ( the first) #11 were one and the same deal. This is the real #11. Sorry! :)==================================The book of James is written, "To the Scattered..." They aren't just scattered from home, they're scattered from each other, and scattered from God. They've lost their way. There's sin in the camp, the rich are avoiding and even abusing the poor,there is little supernatural wonder, the word is not being received with meekness. They are judgmental and they've lost their passion for prayer.  They've lost their way. They are scattered. Maybe you feel scattered. Something has driven you off course. You've lost your way. This episode introduces who James is writing to... he's writing to the scattered!

Send me a Text Message!The book of James is written, "To the Scattered..." They aren't just scattered from home, they're scattered from each other, and scattered from God. They've lost their way. There's sin in the camp, the rich are avoiding and even abusing the poor,there is little supernatural wonder, the word is not being received with meekness. They are judgmental and they've lost their passion for prayer.  They've lost their way. They are scattered. Maybe you feel scattered. Something has driven you off course. You've lost your way. This episode introduces who James is writing to... he's writing to the scattered!

Send me a Text Message!As we dive into the book of James, let's start by asking, "What do you know about James?" The author of the book of James was James the brother of Jesus. So ask yourself, "What would it have been like to grow up as the brother of Jesus? How many times did James hear, "James why can't you just be a little more like your brother? Jesus never lies. Jesus always makes his bed. C'mon James, just ask yourself, wwybd. (What would your brother do?).James didn't even believe in Jesus until after Jesus' resurrection. But somewhere along the way, he became a man of prayer, a leader in the church, and someone with an amazing heart. This episode is all about James.

Send me a Text Message!What if God brough you to this episode, just so He can say one thing to you: "Don't quit! Don't give up! I'm not done yet." Your story isn't finished, because Jesus is the author of your by-faith story and He's not done yet! Let me ask you, will you let Jesus author your story? I love these words from Pete Greig"Even now, this Gallilean calls us by name to leave our nets, abandon small dreams of token empires, and follow him into the great unknown.  His vision for our lives is a treasure worth everything we own -- worth living for and dying for.  It's the vision for which we were born: created by God as a gift of love to his broken, beautiful world."Don't give up. He's not done yet!

Send me a Text Message!I used to say that the greatest opportunities we have for spiritual growth are to either go on a short-term mission trip, or go through a time of suffering. Which is a great advertisment for mission trips! Who wants to schedule in some suffering? But in the last 7+ years, I've added to those two, a third opportunity for catalytic spiritual growth; times of transition. I've found over and over again, that times of  transition are times when our faith can enter new seasons of growth. And what is it about mission trips, suffering and transitions that bring us to new seasons of faith? I think it's the uncertainty, the reminder that our control is merely a facade. So what if, when it comes to faith, uncertainty is actually your friend? 

Send me a Text Message!You see here's the deal...if you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat. And here's what I can't get out of my mind; what I'm thinking is that I want your life to be filled with unforgettable walks.  I want your life to count, to mean something, to be significant. I want it to lead to something beyond fun, friends, a career, or even family. All those are good, great even, but I'm praying that you have some water-walking moments. I don't want you to settle for life in the boat. And what's your boat? That's what we'll talk about in this episode as I lay out four  four steps to an unforgettable walk!

Send me a Text Message!In this episode we are going to use the words of Jesus about prayer, the kind of prayer that matters, that gets answered... to ponder four essentials for prayer. We'll use the acronym PUSH to help us remember them.Pursue JesusUnderstand GraceSet a PlanHold FastDiving into this four prayer essentials will help us pray until something happens!

Send me a Text Message!Where do you need a break-through to greater things that will cause your life to thrive? Where do you need to shine a spotlight on the courage and compassion and the power and glory of Jesus; Jesus the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Lover of our Souls. If we don't pray like prayer is essential, it's because our hearts have not been grabbed by desperation for things that matter to us. But when desperation for things that matter grabs our hearts, we will pray like prayer is essential. We will pray like prayer matters. We will pray until something happens. We will PUSH in prayer.